Indian transport fuel demand fell 9% in April

London, (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - Indian demand for transport fuels fell 9% during April as the second outbreak of coronavirus in the second half of the month crippled demand for transport fuels, a figure that was lower than initial expectations.

Data from the country's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell said diesel demand fell by 8% during April compared with March – a fall equivalent to 565,000 mt or 140,000 b/d – while gasoline demand fell by 15% compared to a month earlier – a fall of 355,471 mt or 100,000 b/d.

The figure for gasoline was broadly in line with expectations, while diesel demand held up relatively well.

Among other transport fuels, jet demand fell 16% on the month, equivalent to a drop of 66,000 mt or 17,380 b/d, while fuel oil demand actually rose 3%.

Some analysts were predicting a fall in oil liquid demand of almost 600,000 b/d during April, although these figures show a month on month fall versus March of less than 400,000 b/d.

Total demand for oil related products, including petcoke, bitumen, lubricants, naphtha and LPG, was 17 million mt, down 10% on the month and  6% on April 2019 figures.